bellari mp 110 experiences

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bleonard

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I hope to get some feedback and share what I have learned regarding this pre-amp.

Caveats-
1. I bought this with no research(3 years ago) - I needed phantom power for my first condenser mic(at 3525)

2. I had (and relativly still do not) no experience - and thus no refernence for comparison.

Bottom line - I could afford it at the time.

My utillization:
mics - Shure sm57 and AT-3525
acoustic guitar pickup's
bass guitar's


My experience:
mics - I usually spend a great deal of time balancing the volume and gain to achieve a hot yet accurate signal.

acoustic guitar pickup's - much easier to get the levels and warmth I want than with my mic's.

Bass Guitar's - a must have - I know there are other mechanisms for achieving the sound I desire - but it is so easy for me via this pre-amp.


One observation (perhaps subjective) - the longer I leave the device powered the more I like the sound.

Perhaps I have so much difficulty with the mic's because of the the acoustic charactreistics of my room - perhaps it is my mic's.

Regardless - I am now looking for a pre-amp that will not require so much effort to achieve an acceptable level for my mic requirements.

FYI - I am also looking to acquire a mic (for vocals) and am leaning towards the BLUE baby bottle ( as I have heard MY voice on this mic and was very impressed with the results - I can only hope it is as applicable to other peroples vocals).


I have shared my experience with this pre-amp in the hope that I might solicit responses regarding my next pre-amp purchase.
In addition any feedbach regarding the BLUE baby bottle would be greatly appreciated.

Brian
 
bleonard said:
Regardless - I am now looking for a pre-amp that will not require so much effort to achieve an acceptable level for my mic requirements.

FYI - I am also looking to acquire a mic (for vocals) and am leaning towards the BLUE baby bottle
Click to expand...

Well, the BB will certainly solve your problem of not getting enough levels out of your mic.
 
Pre-amp

Greetings - chessrock - thanks for the reply

Is it safe for me to assume by your reply that it is the mic and not the pre-amp that has given me so much dificulty in achieving acceptable levels?

Should I also consider a differnet pre-amp?

Thanks,
Brian
 
Thanks again

thanks - maskedman72

Assuming money is not an issue - how should I select a pre?

It seems necessary to try prior to buying as I cannot identify any measurements that distinguish one poduct from another - perhaps I am missing something?

Is it possible to tryout this type of equipment? (maybe just finding a supplier with a liberal return policy?)

It seems like it would take considerable effort to choose - order one pre - listen/record - send it back - order another etc.

I also wonder if I undertake such a venture if I will be able to distinguis an audible difference?

Alot of the advice I read on this site emphasizes listening and comparing - how is that accomplished short of ordering a bunch of products simultaneously? There are no local distributors that carry all of the products I might want to audition and I do not think it is fair to order something knowing I might return it.

Am I missing something?
 
Re: Pre-amp

bleonard said:
Is it safe for me to assume by your reply that it is the mic and not the pre-amp that has given me so much dificulty in achieving acceptable levels?
Click to expand...

I'm saying that it is safe to assume that you won't have any problems getting decent levels out of the baby bottle. It's got about the highest ouput of any mic on the market. It's pretty damn close to line-level already; you could almost bypass the mic pre altogether.

As far as your preamp goes, have you ever considered getting it moded? A good transformer, opamp and tube replacement will do wonders for it.
 
Modded vs. $

chessrock

Thanks for your response - I appreciate your contibution to my learning.
(I do not post to music related boards very often. I want all respondants to know I am very appreaciative.)

I hate to spend more money to mod my pre than it would cost to replace it with better unit.

Where can this type of mod work be done? How can I estimate the cost ?

I'm the first one to rip apart a computer - overclock - liquid cool rtc (if you ever need any advice on that front let me know - I have connections and experience:))

I not keen on tearing apart my audio gear as as I am not qualified and/or experienced.

Brian
 
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Re: Modded vs. $

bleonard said:
Where can this type of mod work be done? How can I estimate the cost ?
Click to expand...

That's kind of tough to say. I really lucked out when I had mine done, but I would consider asking around the boards to see if anyone does any work, or check the yellow pages and call around to the music stores and what not.

It's not cheap, but it's a lot less than the cost of a real tube pre with transformer input, ample plate voltage, quality tubes, etc. All you would be looking to do is replace the transformer, the opamp, the tube, and perhaps some of the caps, so it's not like it's a full-blown overhaul or redesign or anything. ;)
 
In the long run, with a number of new and upcoming products coming out, I'd think twice about paying for "mods".
Between reviewing the fine equipment for sale at www.mercenary.com and keeping your eye open for the new stuff coming out like Toft Audio and Joe Meek, you can gather additional information to make an intelligent choice.

In the $250 or less per channel price range, you could check out
the Studio Projects VTB-1, Fmr. Audio RNP, and the Sytek
that are currently available.

I'd ditch the Bellari as they sound pretty cheap/grainy to me,
and possibly the AT 3525 too unless you really like it.

Chris
 
Chessparov, it's interesting that of all the pres you've just mentioned, none of them are real tube pres. The Bellari is one up on it in that it a) has trasformer input, and b) is not a starved plate design. In those regards, I'd say it's got one up on the vtb1 (which doesn't sound like anything particularly special to anyone with ears). The only thing questionable about it (other than the phantom power issue, that is) is that Bellari skimps by using cheap, crappy parts . . . which aren't prohibitively expensive to replace.

I'm waiting for the day that you actually think a little before you post, rather than just spitting out these predictable, pre-programmed answers (usually containing something regarding SP) like a robot, chess. :D :D Honestly, I can't believe we share the same first name sometimes.
 
First, I don't think he should limit himself to only tube pres. Some of the best pres out there are solid state.

My second suggestion would be that for your first good pre, you get a solid, fairly transparent pre. You can and should add color pres later on, but a good transparent pre can be used for everything, and will always be useful.

If money is not an object I'd go for the John Hardy M1. I have not personally used this pre, but everything I've heard indicates that it is extremely transparent and very nice.

If money is an object, I'd get an RNP. I bought one a couple months ago and I like it a lot. It provides nice gain, high end detail. and nice warmth. It's fairly transparent, but does add some warmth to your sound.

I don't think you would go wrong or outgrow either of these choices.
 
Chessrock, maybe our names are more than coincidence.
Perhaps a certain gear manufacturer in his "single" days spawned
two twin gearnuts unbeknownst to him? Scary thought isn't it? :)

I probably would've been easier on the Bellari MP110 if I didn't get the
MP105 as my first toob mic pre which I gave to a friend of mine for free,
after determining it was a piece of junk. (still friends BTW in spite of it!)

The VTB-1 sounds fine in solid state mode. The "tube blend" feature so
far has been handy for smoothing out "edgey" sounding microphones on
vocals as a helpful sonic band-aid. On better matching mikes it's just been
left out.

In the grand scheme of things, choosing a mic pre really isn't that big of a
deal. My intent was to just provide information for bleonard to be aware of.
I, Robot therefore I am.

Chris
 
I'm not sure about the 105, but the 110 and the 220 are about the only inexpensive real tube pres on the market now. They don't sound particularly clean stock, but with the right modifications, they can kick out some downright sickeningly good, to-die-for tone. I've got a 220 over here with a Jensen trannie at the input, burr-brown at the output, and a bunch of the caps replaced, and it is the shit. :D All told, it set me back less than $600.
 
chessrock said:
I'm not sure about the 105, but the 110 and the 220 are about the only inexpensive real tube pres on the market now. They don't sound particularly clean stock, but with the right modifications, they can kick out some downright sickeningly good, to-die-for tone. I've got a 220 over here with a Jensen trannie at the input, burr-brown at the output, and a bunch of the caps replaced, and it is the shit. :D All told, it set me back less than $600.
Click to expand...

is that one channel or two?

i'm only asking because two channels would clearly be great in the bang for the buck category. if only one channel that would mean that the price per channel would be about the same as a new Vintech 1272 or an API 3124... and if you include e-bay, a whole ton of others. Which still doesn't make it a bad value if you really like it. But at that price you've got to consider the competition as well.

(Of course, if you can afford ONLY one channel at any particular time, that would be another advantage for the modded Bellari).
 
It's two-channels-worth, with only one moded channel (the other unmoded). I suppose if I were to get the other one done, it might cost me another hundred bucks or so (a sample opamp can be had from texas instruments for free - the transformer is the most expensive @ about $50 or more for a good Jensen), so we'd be looking at about $600 - $700 total, perhaps. If you know someone good with electronics (or if you are), it can be a lot less.

Each channel also has two outputs, which actually does come in handy, and there are two DI instrument inputs as well.
 
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